Thread: Powder throwers

I've had the expensive Lyman 55 with the knocker, an older orange one and the later dark metallic grey one, an older Hdy Pacific, about 3 cheap Lee Perfects which I still have one of, a more pricey Lee Perfect Deluxe which I still have, and a top-of-range RCBS with the two drums. On-press systems I have Lee Pro Disk Systems, the same with the micrometer upgrade, and 3 Dillon failsafe Powder systems.

The Lyman I liked least..mine had brass drums.which wore blunt where they cut stick powder. Never got them to be consistent.

The older Hdy Pacific for some reason I could not get consistent either with any powder. Glad to hear others rate it as that's what I would expect. Its very similar to the RCBS and the design has been around a long time now.

The RCBS I like a lot when I'm trickling up rifle loads. Its a keeper. The most accurate on all but heavy long stick powders are the two Lees and the best of those is the well-used cheapest Lee Perfect. The secret is to put a whole tub of powder thru it at least once, best twice, to condition the hopper and feed mechanism..mine both just get better with use. Being able to turn the hopper to an OFF position and lift it off the thrower to empty it is a real bonus. The wiper is a cheap replacement part but I have yet to wear one out. The feel light and tacky but are a revelation in use. The Deluxe is a lot more solid, has a heavy stand you buy separate and just feels nicer. It is around $200 including stand but is no more accurate or consistent.


The newer Lees have a system of being able to have multiple hoppers and multiple micrometer drums that you set for a particular charge and leave dedicated for that use. I am not experienced enough with those to comment.

The Dillon system is very good.and very accurate for bulkp istol and say 223 and the like. I prefer however to trickle up all my rifle loads as my volume is not great. Any sort of scoop, Lees ones or homemade from old brass, will do the job. A Dillon press system can also be used for batch loading.

The Lee Pro Disk System is great for set and forget. They are similar in principle to a Dillon or a MEC shotgun press powder bar in how they use a fixed or adjustable hole to measure a charge. The biggest issue for me is leakage of super fine ball powders like W296. I set one of these up on a powder through die on both Dillon and Lee toolhead/turret for a particular load/calibre and leave them set.